NEW ORLEANS – Both Carson-Newman's men's and women's track and field teams as well as four student-athletes have lauded with All-Academic laurels, the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced Thursday.

PJ Lotharp, Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche and Shane Connell all garner honors on the men's side. Sydney McCarty earns the accolade for the women. 

"To me, this is very special because you have to both qualify for nationals and have a strong GPA," Carson-Newman head track and field coach David Needs said. "These four are a great representation of what it means to be a Carson-Newman student-athlete." 

Jureidini-Wyche earns All-Region honors in discus for the second straight year. Jureidini-Wyche earned second team All-American honors in the discus at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The senior competed in the second flight, recording a toss of 49.66 meters in the opener before slinging the disc 51.19 meters, his furthest throw of the afternoon. With a ninth-place finish, the mark was good enough for second-team All-American honors, the first of Jureidini-Wyche's career and the first thrower in Carson-Newman history to earn All-American honors.

Shane Connell earned Outdoor All-Region honors in the high jump for the second straight season. Connell won five straight high jump championships in the outdoor season, winning the high jump with a clearance of 2.00 meters. The Manchester, England native needed just one jump to clear the two meter mark, a feat he did four times this season.

Lotharp was a member of the 4x100 meter relay team broke or reset the school record in the event six times in a row to end the season. The group took home the bronze medal at the NCAA Division-II Outdoor Championships, finishing third with a time of 39.63 seconds. The group earned All-American honors, becoming the first relay group in school history to earn All-American honors.

Sydney McCarty earns her first career Outdoor All-Region honors, earning the laurel in the long jump. The freshman recorded six top-five finishes in the event this outdoor season, including a third-place finish at the SAC Outdoor Championships. McCarty's personal best mark of 5.85 meters set at the Lee Last Chance event is just 0.05 meters away from tying the school record.

The men's track team earned its honor with a 3.21 team GPA, the women had a 3.47. 

Here is the criteria to be named an NCAA Division II All-Academic Athlete:

Minimum cumulative grade point average of a 3.25 on a 4.0 scale through the end of the semester of competition. Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0]. Data must be certifiable by the institution's registrar.

Must have completed at least 24 semester hours/36 quarter hours through the end of the semester of competition at the institution.

Transfer students and/or graduate students are to include only grades earned at the current nominating institution.

The student-athlete must have achieved an automatic or provisional qualifying mark (individual or relay event) for either the indoor season or outdoor season.

Here is the criteria for a team be named an NCAA Division II All-Academic Team:

The cumulative GPA (not 2021-22 academic year, not semester) for all student-athletes on the institution's NCAA Squad List for Indoor and/or Outdoor Track and Field must be 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, certifiable by the institution's registrar. Institutions utilizing a different GPA scale must convert the GPA to a 4.0 scale using the standard conversion method [GPA/Scale x 4.0].

Transfer students and/or graduate students are to include only grades earned at the current nominating institution.

The cumulative GPA of all student-athletes on the institution's NCAA Squad List for Indoor and/or Outdoor Track and Field must be computed by the following method:

Total the cumulative number of semester hours or quarter hours earned for all student-athletes on the NCAA Squad List including the most recent grading period;

Total the cumulative number of quality points (GPA multiplied by the number of credit hours) earned by all student-athletes including the most recent grading period;

Divide the cumulative number of quality points earned by the cumulative number of semester or quarter hours earned.